Wiring Up Guitar Electronics 2: Soldering Backs of Pots

[geohuete94]

the pots that came with the pickups i ordered are 25k, and the three prongs or legs or whatever theyre called are too small to bend back to solder the volume one

[johnplanetz]

@geohuete94 - I actually prefer not to bend pot lugs to directly solder them to a pot back. I just use a short wire instead.

[RuneScapeRoots]

I am making my own guitar and am putting in the Zakk Wylde EMG set. It doesn't come with a 3 way switch or the wires for it, what gauge wires do i need to connect the switch to the 'B157 EMG pickup buss' that came with the pickups?

[johnplanetz]

@RuneScapeRoots - 22 or 24 gauge will be fine.

[JonsBrain]

How do I know which lug to solder the ground wire to?

[johnplanetz]

@JonsBrain - you need to have a basic understanding of your circuit. Understanding some basic electronics, and looking at some circuit diagrams will help you. There's some links to resources in the FAQ at my blog at planetz.

[FacingItAlone]

To rewire does the wire have to be stranded or a strip?

[johnplanetz]

@FacingItAlone - solid core wire can be less flexible and more likely to break. It's much more common to use stranded wire.

[PanzarMetal]

Hi, I tried everything you said but nothing works, I have a 60w iron.

And even worse with the spring hook plate ground wire, please help!

[johnplanetz]

@PanzarMetal - make sure you let the iron heat up for awhile. Add some solder to the iron tip to get it flowing. If you're still having problems, maybe your iron is simply not getting hot enough (may you need a new one).

[PanzarMetal]

@johnplanetz Its hot enough to melt isolation on a wire while tinning a wire.

maybe i should change the tip from a pencil point to a flat one ?

[johnplanetz]

@PanzarMetal - excellent observation. A larger tip will be better for heating up big areas. My Weller has interchangeable tips, and I use the 1/8" flat tip for heavy work. I only use the fine pencil-tip point for soldering on PCB's, etc.

[PanzarMetal]

@johnplanetz Thanks for the compliment but you forgot to mention one more thing!

I'm trying to solder the part which is held by screws and 4 springs, they take the heat away faster, so the proper way i should do is to take off that part and solder it on a block of wood so there would be less heat loss.

THank you for the tip!

[pitol678]

fantastic videos, thanks!

[andykillian]

@johnplanetz thanks so much, that helped alot

[andykillian]

hi, im planning on getting new pickups for my guitar. when they say its 2,3 or 4 conductor, what does that mean? please reply man

[johnplanetz]

@andykillian - a single-coil pickup has 2 conductors- 2 wires. One for signal and one for ground. A humbucker is really two single-coils stacked together, so it has 4 wires. However, sometimes they internally connect the two grounds together. And sometimes they gang the two signal wires together into one. With 4 wires, you have more flexibility for coil splitting, etc. See my blog at planetz for my articles on humbucker wiring and coil splitting.

[Dazcam]

Instead of grounding it with a piece of wire, can you simply bend the lug back and solder it to the body of the pot? Just to save on the number of wires being everywhere ofcourse

[johnplanetz]

@Dazcam - yes, no problem

[BCGadgets]

ha anyone every grounded a truss-rod?

[johnplanetz]

@BCGadgets - it doesn't seem necessary. The truss rod doesn't make contact with the strings or anything else in the electronics.

[RocknRollParadiase]

by the end of this video, are those wires on the pots which will be the "level 0 volume" and should I add a capacitor instead? what exactly would a capacitor do that is different?

[johnplanetz]

@RocknRollParadiase - In these videos, I'm wiring this circuit using the diagram I posted at my blog at planetz back on 9/21/2009, titled "Riviera P93 Circuit Wiring". The "level 0" volume is accomplished on a volume pot, wired as voltage divider, when the pot is turned all the way to the side wired to ground. One side is ground, other side is signal, and the center is the output. Turning the pot adjust the ratio of ground and signal. A cap is sometimes used on a volume pot for treble bleed.

[wedel219]

Have you ever tried grounding your guitars without soldering to the backs of the pots? I gave one of my pots a huge dose of heat today because the factory solder just wouldn't melt. My tech had the same problem that I did with the factory solider and he uses a much more powerful iron than my 40 Watt. I'm worried about frying my pots, and I don't quite understand why soldering to the back of them is such common practice. Isn't there another way to properly ground a guitar?

[johnplanetz]

@wedel219 - Huh. You should be able to get it to melt! The primary reason to use the back of a pot is that it's a nice convenient big metal place to which you can solder a bunch of stuff :) A secondary benefit is for noise reasons- keeping all the metal parts of the guitar grounded (in this case the pot body and shaft). If you're giving up on the pot back, you could just use a pigtail instead (an exposed wire connected to a ground point to which you can solder the other ground wires).

[tenhundredkills]

Will a standard 30 Watt iron suffice for melting silver solder? My Jackson for whatever reason has silver solder and my current iron (of unknown wattage) won't melt it.

[johnplanetz]

@tenhundredkills - Not sure. There are a number of varieties of solder containing silver, and they generally have a higher melting point. Try letting your iron heat up for 10 minutes before working the solder.  If that doesn't work, you'll need a better iron. Good luck

[tenhundredkills]

@johnplanetz I let my iorn heat up for about 20 minutes and I got nothing. Looks like I'm getting a better solder! Thanks anyway!

[doyengicp]

@tenhundredkills I tried using a 30W iron to remove wires from stock Gibson pots that use silver solder. I couldnt get it to fuse at all.

And soldering with silver solder on new parts is also very hard.

If you really want to use this type of solder, try at least a 60W, or a good soldering station. (or just go back to 60/40 and keep your 30W iron :) )

[tenhundredkills]

@doyengicp I just found that out I had the same problem yesterday. Rather buying a 60W iron that I'll only use once or twice, I just went to a local music shop. It saves money in the long run.

[dermotbuckley]

For beginners, and people who are only learning how electronics on guitars work, this video is really confusing. It made no sense to me. Very frustrating.

[CaptainCocaine]

@dermotbuckley The video is titled "Wiring Up Guitar Electronics 2." Did you watch "Wiring Up Guitar Electronics 1"? Also, are you familiar with basic electronics? You should learn basic electronics before applied electronics. Crawl before you walk, walk before you run, basically. I thought the video was pretty helpful, as soldering the backs of pots has always been the hardest part for me, and I never even thought of sanding the pot.

[MrV1C7OR]

@johnplanetz I'm new in this, can you explain me ¿Can i make a guitar with just a Humbucker, an Input jack and a 3-way switch? i'm making electring a clasic "spanish" guitar, and i want to use only the necessary components. ¿Can i ido it?

Thank you very much

[johnplanetz]

@MrV1C7OR - yes of course. you can wire the pickup directly to the jack if you wish, and you'll retain a little extra brightness by avoiding the volume and tone controls. I demonstrate that in one of my videos "p-90 pickup experiment". You can get a lot of circuit diagram ideas from the

"Guitar Diagram Archive & Wiring Resources" at the guitarelectronics website.

[1xDRCx]

@MrV1C7OR If by spanish guitar you mean nylon string, you can't use a humbucker because it requires metal strings that will disrupt the magnetic field of the poles to create a signal, it wont work with a classical classical strings since they aren't metal so you need a pickup that would work with nylon strings.

[MrV1C7OR]

@1xDRCx Yes, but i want to make that nylon strings guitar into electric by changing the strings too. But Thank you for your help.

[lukepleaseshutup]

Really useful! Thanks a ton!

I like how you hold your breath before every solder like you're dismantling an atomic bomb :)

[edteaches]

Thanks for the "tips"! I found out that my solder tip was burned out, that's why it wasn't heating up too well. Bought a new tip @ radio shack. Didn't find the 1/8" tip but I do have a 40-watt iron and the pointed tip worked oK. But NOW, after I soldered everything and taped it up, i have a hum/ground noise! Aaargh!

[97warlock]

since the bareknuckle(bridge) is NOT humming, and the Kent Armstrong IS , i will completely rewire that one & see where it gets me. great advice. TY

[97warlock]

Ok,Ive wired ALL my ground wires to one point & Ive even went ahead & shielded the cavity AND the back cover and it hasnt decresed the Hum at all. ....whats odd though is , its a 3 way Toggle & I get NO hum in the bridge position,yet bad hum from middle & Neck position. Doubt its the pickup because i bought it new & used it in my last guitar for about 8 months. I was impressed by how silent it was. Now......HUM city. Im at wits end!

[johnplanetz]

@97warlock - is it an isolated single coil, whereas before it was paired with a RWRP single coil? (single coils are susceptible to EMI noise). only other thing i can suggest is to recheck your circuit layout and your wiring. disconnect everything, then wire the pickup directly to the jack and see if it hums. if not, then work your way back in to the circuit, adding one component at a time until you find the cause. use alligator clip leads before you solder to make it easier.

[PanzarMetal]

if you have metal dust on pickups just use tape to stick it off.

[johnplanetz]

@PanzarMetal - good suggestion. but the cylindrical pole pieces and geometry of the bobbin can make it tricky to get in there with tape. best to try to avoid getting any metal dust in there in the first place :)

[PanzarMetal]

@johnplanetz Nah, i had that problem, I simply took tape, and put my finger on the non stick side, and made it as a guide point (helps if you have nails) and removed it nicely. Just like cleaning with a cloth but with much more sticking strength and no water for rusting the mag's.

[97warlock]

Can i run ALL my grounds inside trhe cavity....to the Switch ground?? or do they all need to go to the pot? My Pot is 2nd inline headed towards the input and i have to "loop" back to go to the pot. But if i go everything to the Swicth ground ,then it keeps me from looping back. (serious hum issue here,2 hi output Buckers 1 vol,3way)

[johnplanetz]

@97warlock - the ground just needs to be electrically connected. you want to avoid ground loops (giving the signal more than one possible path to ground), as that can cause hum. star grounding is a good way to avoid that-- wire all your grounds to a single point, and then wire that point to the final ground target (like the jack lug). do some searches on ground loops and star grounding and you'll find what you need.

[97warlock]

wow, I was trying to soldering my ground Directly to the back of the pot,without putting a glob of solder on the pot first. hmm so in actuality the ground wire gets soldered To the SOLDER that was previously melted onto the pot. Which is much easier than soldering right to the bare Pot. maybe thats why I have a ground hum maybe.

[johnplanetz]

@97warlock - yes, "tinning" both the wire and the back of the pot will really help to get it all flow together. the flux in the solder helps dissolve any oxidization on the metal, to allow the solder to stick well.

[edteaches]

Thanks for the vid! I am currently wiring my Epiphone Les Paul Studio. I changed the humbuckers for Golden Age humbuckers with the 4-wire connection. I swapped out the old pickup selector and got a Freeway switch from Stewmac. I had to increase the size of the hole to fit the new switch. In doing all the soldering, the back of the pots were giving me the most problems. I don't know if my S-iron is giving the heat output it should cuz your solder melted much faster than mine. Any suggestions?

[johnplanetz]

@edteaches - you need a good hot iron to get the pot hot enough to melt solder. i used a 40w iron, and let it heat up for about 10 minutes. the tip can also make a difference. a really fine or narrow tip doesn't heat up a large surface area well. if you use a larger tip (like 1/8"), that can help.

[GrantGoodale]

Stupid question.. but is there different soldering temps i should be using. I see you have a 40w iron. 650 f-750 f .I have a soldering station with temp control so thats why i ask. Might as well do it right. The reason i ask is because i know some extensive heat will melt the insulation in the wire. And if there is certain temps id like to know. If not sorry for the stupid question.

ps. Love all yor videos man. Iv learned alot from you.

[johnplanetz]

@GrantGoodale - i don't have a variable temp control, so i just use 25w or 40w. just pay attention to how fast it's doing the work. and if you're melting stuff unintentionally then you're either running too hot, or holding too long! good luck!

[GrantGoodale]

@johnplanetz yea i understand that point. but a 25w and 40w is a big difference. One works slow when doing multiple contacts as the temp of the tip decreases etc. Just wondering if their was a difference why you use both heats? does to much heat cause damage to interior of pots etc?

and is their a ideal temp to be working at working at ? Or w.e melting spead of the rosin core you like etc?

maybe im making it moe complicated. But if doing repairs just need to know if to much heat will dmg pot

[johnplanetz]

@GrantGoodale - i found that 25w was not hot enough to solder to the back of the pot. but 40w can be a bit too hot when just soldering wires to switches or pot lugs. you can totally melt the plastic on a typical SPDT switch if you use too much heat for too long. but even 40w is fine in these cases if you don't keep it there for too long. unfortunately the answer really is, you'll get a feel for what's right with the experience of doing it. don't be afraid to try and make mistakes!

[badyearXY]

this is helpful!!! i just have a couple of questions.

1. if i'm installing a minihumbucker in place of a p90 is the wiring gonna be different?

2. if the pickups i'm installing come with wires do i just solder the one that it calls a ground to the pot??

i know these are stupid questions but its my first time doing this and im scared to shits!

[johnplanetz]

@badyearXY - i have a post from 10/9/2010 at my blog at planetz about humbucker wiring. it's a bit different since a humbucker is really two stacked single-coils so there's typically 4 wire. i recommend you get some alligator clip leads-- this will let you experiment with different wiring configurations. you can get it all working and make sure you understand it before having to solder anything. good luck!

[bahicks20]

Are tone pots and volume pots universal?= meaning can i use regular 500k pots for volume and tone?

[johnplanetz]

@bahicks20 - yes, pots are pots. however, there are different tapers, and styles, etc. I talk about these differences in the other potentiometer-related videos in my channel. in short, you can use the same 500k audio taper pot for both volume and tone.

[nuaurea]

thank you for the great video,it's really nice if you can do a video for dimarzio HSS soldering..

[1stdeadpresident]

@johnplanetz thanks alot sir.

[1stdeadpresident]

what are you melting to the back of the pot. my guitar doesnt have much. how do i get more.?

[johnplanetz]

@1stdeadpresident - buy some 60/40 rosin core solder. you can get it at radio shack, etc.

[johnplanetz]

@christiancoker1 - i use a cheap a 40w iron, and you can see in the video how long i hold it. As long as the iron is hot (i let it warm up for 10 minutes or so), it shouldn't take long for the solder to flow onto the pot back

[trainwreckjoe]

johnplanetz -- Hey, great video series!

Quick, basic question: In wiring the ground wire to the pot, is there a particular terminal that MUST be used? Another website mention terminal #1 (looking left to right), is this a general rule of thumb, or would any of the three terminals work?

Thanks!

[johnplanetz]

@trainwreckjoe - depends on what you're wiring. A tone pot usually uses just two of the lugs as a variable resistor (from center to one of the sides). A volume pot uses all three lugs as a voltage divider, with one side connected to ground and the other side connected to the signal and the center connected to the output. Which sides you choose for ground and signal determine which way the pot will turn to get louder/brighter (clockwise vs counterclockwise). 

[eladtall]

hello , thanks for the demonstrtion , it is rely hlped me to understand some things , but i have a question , i understand that i can hardly demeg the pots or caps or the wires if i heat them to mach , i traied to work on abroken pots just to practic , i use a 35W solder , after maybe 2.5 or 3 seconds the pots is so hot that i cant tach it at all and i dont know if it's make any demeg , i see in th movie that u use 45w and working on the pots for 6 sec , the valu of the pots stay the same ?

[johnplanetz]

@eladtall - yes, the pots (and all metal parts) will get VERY hot when you work on them, even for a couple seconds. It has to get hot enough to melt the solder! The pots should be able to take a fair amount of heat- I've never had one die from overheating, but I'm sure it's possible. Don't sit there for toooo long. I don't think it will affect the value of the pots. I suppose it could cause the conductive trade to separate from the wafer (total failure), but you'd have to really cook it.

[Sabotagedband]

Need ur help! My guitars volume knob got stuck, i twisted it and it twisted all of the wires of the volume pot, i tried attaching the wires back onto the pot and no noise happens at all, advice?

[johnplanetz]

@Sabotagedband - by "stuck" do you mean it mechanically wouldn't turn? or it turned but didn't change the volume? If it wouldn't turn and you forced it, the pot may be broken and need replacement. If you have a multimeter, you can check if it's working ok- see my video "potentiometers- how they work, disassembly and exploration" for more on how to do that. If it was just a bad wire connection, you now need to connect it all back up properly (finding a wiring diagram will help). Good luck!

[Sabotagedband]

@johnplanetz Thanks for the advice, but i accidently knocked the wire out of the amp, thinking when tried reattching the wire to see if it made noise it was broken coz it didnt make noise. But no...just knocked the wire out of the amp without realising >.<

[stewmunny]

@Sabotagedband chances are you have overdone soldering and it has flowed into inner part of pot. Hold pot at angle heat up lug and solder should flow to end. Then use desolder pump to removed XS solder.

[guitargod1598]

ok i need a little help, i have a real basic setup, one humbucker 1 vol, but the jack doesnt werk, with certain positions of the cable i lose my signal completly...any ideas?thax

[johnplanetz]

@guitargod1598 - you mean when you wiggle the cable/wires, the signal cuts out? If so, it sounds like a bad solder joint. Double-check all your solder connections - make sure they look nice and shiny and smooth. A single pickup->vol pot->jack is a very simple setup, so it shouldn't be too hard to sort out.

[ShortFingeredShreder]

Oh, that's why the solder didn't hold, I had to sand the pots first.

[kedocom]

Thankyou for your response, this is my first wiring job and I'm more than a little green, what device would I use to check the parts individually?

[johnplanetz]

@kedocom - you could for example just use alligator clips to wire the pickup directly to the jack, make sure that works. then clip in a volume control, and check that. then add in tone, etc. This is also a great way to really learn and understand the circuit. A multimeter can also be very useful for checking connections (see the FAQ at my blog for tips).

[kedocom]

I think I may have fried a pot or cap too as the bridge pickup sounds very thin and the neck pickup cuts in and out when its not in middle position(any way to test this?) ..... oh well .... first time to wire ... wish I would have seen this video first! ..... oh, and the guy at radio shack said I should use siver solder and so I did, but its awfully thin and seems to need to be fed a lot in order to accumulate, any tjoughts on this? thanks and thanks for the very informative vid!!!

[johnplanetz]

@kedocom - it may just be wiring mistakes or a bad solder joint. probably best to unsolder and check your parts individually with alligator leads.

solder comes in several different diameters - sounds like yours is too thin. I use .032", but it's really up to you what works best for the size of your iron tip and the size of the parts your soldering. .063" is often too big/messy but may work ok for you.

[merrilltim]

To the person(s) with static issues in your guitar. First make sure all the wires are well soldered to their pots or switches. Sometimes they look ok ok but are not so try sigggling the wire slightly. IF THEY ARE OK TRY THIS TIP a friend told me but it works . Put a small piece of dryer fabric sheet in your guitar cavity! IT WORKS it will kill the static.

[ericohman]

You have such informative videos, really appreciated!

As for grounding the lug, what's your experience in bending the lug and solder it directly to the back of the pot? I've seen a lot of photos on the internet with that being done.

[johnplanetz]

@ericohman - sometimes the lug doesn't quite reach, so you end up building a little solder bridge or using a short bare wire. Using a short wire is better in this case. If it reaches, should be fine. Just don't bend the lug back and forth a lot, or you can break it off.

[SwordMasterz2]

Do most electronics, like pots and switches, come with instructions to tell you where things are supposed to be soldered in which lug, or does it not really matter?

[johnplanetz]

No, unfortunately most do not come with instructions. And yes, it does matter how you wire them up.

Best is to get some books on basic electronics, and learn by experimentation. I have some suggestions in the FAQ at my blog.

[Aderemi111]

thanks for uploading this

[ProcrastinatorsUnify]

Brilliant Video, absolutely fantastic, No other way to say it

[xxcowslayerxxx]

ok so i just got done wiring my guitar before watching this vid and there is a ton of static and a loud buzzing noise when i turn the volume knob on anything but max vol, and the tone knobs make a different buzzing noise when not on a certain setting of max or min, think it could be due to bad connections from not roughing it up or tinning the back of the pots or wires before soldering? everything is in the right place so bad connections is the last thing i havent checked yet...

[johnplanetz]

Do you have a multimeter you can use to check your connections and components? Not roughing up the backs makes it more likely the connection will eventually fail, but if it's currently sticking then I doubt that's the problem. It's also possible you overheated the pots/caps/etc if you left the iron in contact for too long.

[xxcowslayerxxx]

no but i think i know what the problem is because the guitar works its just got alot of static when i turn the tone/volume knobs some loud buzzing but i think you already made it clear what happened i think i over heated one of the pots and/or fried the caps, because one of them i held it on there for a long time because i was trying to de-stick some wires and the solder wont melt, still wont, i held it on there for over a minute so yea i guess ill just cut the wires off and replace the pot

[xxcowslayerxxx]

and caps

[xxcowslayerxxx]

and thanks a ton for the tips and help man much appreciated, keep doin what you doin bro

[ThatsFuckingHeavy]

i was wondering i have a broken tone knob the pot has stripped ot, is there a way i can just bypasss that knob and remove it? it made almost no difference when it did work and i figure why fix it if ill never use it? i have a five way selector witha humbucker and two single coil. the guitar itself is a godin sd. thank u very much for any help

[johnplanetz]

Sure. You have a single master tone? This is typically wired in parallel with the signal/volume. Which means you can simply disconnect it and the rest of the circuit should be unaffected. Give it a try!

[EJRocky]

Absolutely fantastic. I just did a temporary job on my Squier (I'm gonna be upgrading some hardware soon, whole project this guitar), because I just needed something to play.

My joints are dull, I forgot to tin the ends of the wires I'm soldering, and I applied the solder onto the iron, then used the iron to press it onto the joint. Facepalm. I only did the wires to the claw and the output jack... plus it's only a temporary job. Now I'm better prepared thanks to this vid.

Thank you, man =]

[johnplanetz]

Right on! We all gotta make some mistakes first, before taking it to the next level :)

Good luck with the rest of the project.

[artofshredding1]

I have a few more questions. I am getting ready to install my new pickups and wire everything together, and was wondering if there is an advantage to use 20 gauge stranded core wire vs 20 gauge solid core? because i have solid core and dont want to go out and buy stranded core if i dont have too. Also, when soldering wires to the lugs of the pots, and the back of the pots, does excess solder cause a problem? Thanks

[johnplanetz]

20 gauge solid core should be fine. I think the main reason stranded is used is that is generally cheaper than solid core wire.

As for excess solder, there's a "right amount" to use: not too much, not too little. You learn this through experience - but don't worry about it too much. If you're unsure, err on the side of more, rather than less. Just don't pile it on! :)

[goblincitymoshers]

Many thanks, this has been perfect demo, hopefully have my baby up and running shortly now :)

[jantz369]

nicely presented... tq for sharing bro...